Food Coma on Xmas?
Every year, around Christmas time, someone asks me about Food Comas - that drowsy feeling you get after a big meal like Xmas lunch or dinner - What are they? Are real? Can you treat them? And are they bad for your health?
Well, a “food" coma” is a real thing. Thankfully its not as dramatic as the name makes it sound, its definitely not an actual coma. The scientific term is postprandial somnolence - which basically means “post-eating sleepiness”.
The body has two fundamental states - “fight or flight” where are alert and ready for again, and “rest and digest” where your body is less focused on doing and more focus on absorbing and assimilating the food you ate so that you have the energy and substrates you need to do fight or flight again later. So when you have had a big meal, the sleepiness is part of the rest.
If you get too active you risk losing the meal (remember being told not to go swimming for half an hour after a big meal). You might also feel a little weaker because to digest your food and collect the nutrients your body sends more blood to the gut. Since your blood volume is fixed and your brain is too important, the muscles could be the area that gets fed less for a while.
High carb meals might be more food coma inducing because carbs need insulin for processing. This could impact the way other things move in the body, like salts and amino acids, having a knock effect to those drowsy feels.
We also often drink too much alcohol while eating big meals, so don’t discount that impact too.
The cure? Try to enjoy your food but stop before you feel the food coma. IF you have eaten too much and feel that drowsiness coming on, and don’t want to miss a moment of the fun to a nap, some gentle exercise like a walk, can help balance things out again.
Is it dangerous? Even though dietary recommendations are often on a “per day” basis what you eat on a single day isn’t the deal breaker to a quality diet. If you are eating to the point of food coma daily, then you might want to talk to a professional about what you are eating and why.
Back in 2019 I spoke to ABC Science about the phenomenon.
